The trade fair event dedicated to the transformation of industry through disruptive technologies, IOT Solutions World Congress (IOTSWC), will bring together, from May 10 to 12, more than 310 exhibitors to showcase technological solutions that can benefit companies from multiple sectors and 200 speakers who will debate the latest trends in digital transformation.
--- They are returning to the in-person format of the show that was born from the need to bring disruptive technological advances to industry. Do you think the objective has been achieved?
--- Of course. And even more so after the pandemic, which if it served for anything, it was to realize that any company that is not digitized lacks survival in the future. It must be taken into account that if we have economically and socially overcome the impact of COVID, it has been, in part, thanks to the digitization of industry and services, and to connectivity versus people.
--- What will be the vectors of this seventh edition?
--- We reinforce our role as a platform for technological advances, to demonstrate that the Internet of Things is changing the industrial sector and the way this industry works and produces and, consequently, the way we consume. IoT will change everything. We don't yet know what impact it will have on each sector, but we know that everything will be very different. Therefore, we are evolving according to how the world changes. That is why this year's main drivers are solutions aimed at sustainability and those that improve the impact of industry on society and for the benefit of people.
--- What number of professional visitors do you anticipate?
--- For IOT Solutions World Congress, a fair aimed solely at the industry, expectations are very good. For three reasons. First, all the events held this year at Fira de Barcelona, such as Alimentaria or Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week, have registered a large influx of visitors and have exceeded pre-pandemic levels, because the industry wants to reconnect directly and personally with its customers and suppliers. Second, because we have a good record of participants and a waiting list for next year. And third, the coincidence with the celebration from May 10 to 13 of Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), the event for professionals in the audiovisual and systems integration sector, which lands for the first time in Barcelona, and which is a great opportunity. Together we will occupy the same exhibition area as the Mobile World Congress (MWC), and we expect to approach its successful visitor numbers, as we expect to receive between 50,000 and 60,000 people.
--- The coincidence with ISE was thanks to a collaboration agreement. Will it be a long-term alliance?
--- We are very excited about this agreement. At IOTSWC we are convinced that some of the key technologies we promote, such as Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things, have incredible transformation potential for professionals in the audiovisual sector, and to the same extent, audiovisual and systems integration technologies can help develop new disruptive solutions in the digital transformation ecosystem. Therefore, our intention is for the alliance to work very well and to work for it to be repeated, and in the long term. For now, we have nothing signed. But I would bet that this collaboration will continue.
--- What role do small and medium-sized enterprises play in IOT Solutions World Congress?
--- Both multinationals and small, medium, and micro-enterprises have a place and an essential role. The fair's trajectory demonstrates this very clearly. We have many exhibitors and visitors who have participated in IOTSWC since its first edition and all of them are very innovative. We must be clear that innovation does not depend on the size of companies. We have examples of companies that have passed through the fair and have grown with it, because in the first editions, micro-enterprises saw interesting solutions that later, applied to their businesses, allowed them to grow and expand; in addition to improving products with complementary services for their clients who, in turn, gained efficiency. What is most valuable for this sector is that the business fabric can see disruptive solutions that, applied to their sector, generate a competitive advantage.
--- Are these eminently transversal solutions?
--- Since the first edition, in collaboration with the Industrial Internet Consortium, we have been clear that the Internet of Things must have an ecosystem in which all stakeholders cooperate, even if they are competing companies. That is to say, any technological solution does not depend on a single person, but on collaborative work within the technological ecosystem to eventually transfer it to industry.
--- What would you highlight about this edition?
--- In terms of solutions, we will see very diverse, disruptive, and interesting things, which will be presented in the Testbed Area of IOT Solutions World Congress (IOTSWC). It is difficult to highlight just a few. In any case, the participation of Ann Dunkin, Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the US Department of Energy, will be very interesting. She will explain how 5G and Artificial Intelligence can help define the energy transition and how states should act in this matter, because it is a key issue that Europe is working on, and even more so now with the problems that have arisen with Russia. Both Dunkin and all international experts will present practical cases to show clear examples of how disruptive technologies are radically transforming businesses.